In a seesaw affair with an abundance of offense, the Flyers have their four game win streak snapped at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. Here’s how it all went down:
Duck Hunter
At the 6:20 mark of the first period, Flyers rookie defensemen Hunter McDonald raised the temperature of the game with a thunderous hit on Anaheim’s Sam Colangelo. McDonald then was challenged to a fight by AJ Greer and the two squared off in a spirited bout. As a result of this, Philadelphia received a golden opportunity on a 5-on-3 man advantage as Greer picked up an extra 2 minutes for instigating the scrap and a 10 minute misconduct as well.
“It’s the same thing he did in Buffalo,” Rick Tocchet said. “Five minutes left and they take a penalty because it’s a clean hit and we win the game that way so yeah, you have a guy that’s willing to go in there and hit hard.”
Better with M’s
Once the dust was settled and the penalties’ were assessed, it was the Flyers Russian wunderkind that got the orange and black on the board at the 13:59 mark of the 1st period. After receiving a pass from Jamie Drysdale, Matvei Michkov would wheel the puck towards the center point before rifling a wrist shot past Lukas Dostal. A minute later, Travis Sanhiem would make a clean backdoor pass to Porter Martone to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead. Both tallies were powerplay markers.
“We got a lot of skilled players,” Martone said. “I think everyone knows their role on the powerplay and I think that’s why we’ve been scoring.”
According to NHL stats, Michkov and Martone scored the fifth fastest power-play goals by Philadelphia in the last 20 years. Later, Martone (1-1—2) assisted on the 5-4 goal by Michkov in the third period to record his fifth career multi-point game. They continue to be the Flyers’ most dangerous weapons this season.
Familiar Foes
The Ducks flipped the script on Philadelphia in the second period. At the 8:38 mark, Leo Carlsson notched his third goal of the season from Cutter Gauthier.
Of course, in a parallel universe, both could have been Flyers.
The Flyers tendered Carlsson a massive 5-year, $90 million offer sheet (an $18 million average annual value) on July 3 of this summer with the hope he could become the club’s number one centermen. Gauthier, on the other hand, was supposed to be a key member of Philadelphia’s rebuild at one time.
Anaheim would receive two more goals AJ Greer and Judd Caufield in route to snapping their four game losing streak.
They Said It
Rick Tocchet on the Flyers Second Period: “I thought we got loose. That’s when let them back in the game.”
Noah Cates on Tyson Foerster’s Short Handed Goal: “Obviously, such an important piece for this team. Not just offensively but defensively. When he’s on pucks and fore-checking and doing the things he’s doing; causing turnovers and shooting the puck, he’s dangerous and I think one of the best two-way forwards in the league.”
Porter Martone on how the Flyers Can Not Let this Loss Snowball on Them: “Yeah, I mean it’s hockey. The seasons not going to go smoothly. There’s going to be a bunch of bumps in the road but the biggest thing is a positive attitude and how you respond. I think it’s a big test for our group next game, see how we respond to a loss and hopefully get a couple wins under our our belt again.”
Matvei Michkov on his Two Goal Effort: “We lose today. This is no good; I think we need to score more goals in the hard place in the o-zone.”
Did You Know?
According to NHL stats, Matvei Michkov opened the scoring with his team-leading seventh goal of the season. He now has reached 123 career points to tie Ron Sutter for the fifth most by a player age 21 or younger in franchise history. The only other Flyers to reach the milestone are Eric Lindros (193), Peter Zezel (186), Simon Gagne (158) and Bill Barber (133).
On Deck
The Flyers return to action on Tuesday, when play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Puckdrop is set for 7:00 p.m. and will broadcast locally on NBCSP.
